


Chin Up, Buttercup

by sarahcakes613



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Chinchillas, Gen, M/M, Nonbinary Character, Pre-Relationship, Storytelling, Veterinarian Rafael Barba, Veterinary Clinic, the adventures of Fin and his squirrel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:34:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27512407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahcakes613/pseuds/sarahcakes613
Summary: Sonny tells his nibling a story to distract them as they take a beloved pet to the animal clinic, where Dr. Rafael Barba makes everything better.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 34
Collections: Barisi Professions Bingo





	Chin Up, Buttercup

**Author's Note:**

> This took a sharp right turn somewhere and wound up nowhere near my intended destination but I hope it's enjoyed anyhow.
> 
> If anyone is unfamiliar with the term, "nibling" is a gender-neutral term for the children of your siblings. I decided to make Bella's child non-binary because everyone deserves to feel represented. I hope I did the character justice.
> 
> Also, Cin is pronounced Chin. Yes, Chin-Chin the Chinchilla.

“Hurry, Sonny, _hurry!_ ”

The bossy voice that Sonny is used to hearing from his sister is no less impressive coming from her nine-year-old child, and Sonny nods solemnly as he ties his shoes.

“I’m going as fast as I can, squirt.”

A shrill honking sound from near the door kicks him into higher gear than the impatient child, and he stands up with a flourish.

“Alright, come on then. Let’s get this little guy to the doctor, what’d’you say bud?” Sonny picks up the carrier and croons at the chinchilla inside. Cin-Cin stares back at him and repeats the honking sound.

It’s tucked into the back of the carrier, favouring one of its front paws. Sonny sympathizes, catching your hand in a cupboard door is a special kind of pinching pain. When Cin-Cin had caught his in his cage door, Sonny had honestly thought it was Elisha wailing, but Eli had been just as confused as he was at the noise.

“Got your inhaler?” Sonny checks and Eli nods. He pats his own pockets, making sure he has the backup inhaler and the spare housekeys.

The Sullivan’s have only had Cin-Cin a few months, and this is going to be his first trip to the vet for something other than his first checkup. Elisha had been in school at the time, and so has never been to the animal clinic.

“Hand,” Sonny says, and the nine-year-old obediently slips their hand into Sonny’s. The clinic isn’t far for Sonny’s long legs but he figures it will take them about twenty or thirty minutes to walk at a child’s pace.

“You promise he’s gonna be okay?” Eli asks again, looking up at their uncle. Poor kid, Sonny thinks. Eli’s inherited some of his and Bella’s anxious tendencies towards health, and is now projecting them onto the rodent.

“Absolutely.” Sonny says. “They’re going to give him x-rays, and then wrap his paw in a tiny little rodent cast, and give him a tiny little rodent lollipop, just like the time you sprained your ankle.”

Eli giggles, but then immediately begins fretting again. “What if Cin-Cin doesn’t understand they’re going to help him? What if he bites someone? My teacher said her dog bit someone and she had to go to court so the doctors wouldn’t take the dog away.” Their voice rises up sharply at the end.

“Hey, whoa, hey,” Sonny stops and kneels in front of his nibling. “No one is going to take Cin-Cin away. It’s true that sometimes dogs can get in trouble for biting,” Sonny pauses, trying to figure out how to explain the difference. “Sometimes dogs bite people for the wrong reason, and the people they bite don’t expect it. The people who work at animal clinics though, they understand that if an animal bites them it’s because they’re scared. If Cin-Cin bites someone, they’ll know it’s just because he’s afraid.”

“He won’t get in trouble?” Eli looks dubious.

“Absolutely not. And you know what? If he does, I’ll make sure he gets the best animal lawyer out there.”

They keep walking, moving slower now because Eli insists on carrying Cin-Cin’s carrier. The chinchilla is making occasional alarmed squeaks but mostly staying quiet, which is a relief after the truly human-like wailing that had first alerted them to his injury.

“Hey,” Sonny says conversationally, “did I ever tell you about my friend Fin and his pet squirrel?”

“You mean uncle Fin who you used to work with?”

Sonny nods. “That’s right.”

Elisha gives him a skeptical look. “Squirrels can’t be pets.”

“Says who?” Sonny retorts.

“Says everyone, duh.” Eli rolls their eyes and sounds so much like their teenage cousins for a minute that Sonny shudders.

“Well, everyone’s wrong. Anyhow, this is a special squirrel.”

They pause to wait for a light to change and Eli hikes the carrier higher up onto their shoulder.

“What makes it special?” Eli says it in a passive tone, but Sonny can tell they’re curious.

“A lot of things,” Sonny says. “It all began…” He stops, because he’s just realized the squirrel’s origins aren’t really fit for a child’s ears. “It all began when Fin’s boss asked him to go investigate a situation at the zoo.”

He tells Elisha an extremely watered-down version of the real case, substituting a zoo and smuggled chocolate from Canada for the brothel and Oxy that had actually been discovered.

“And then Fin put his hand into the pillo-uh, pile of hay, and that’s when he found it.”

“Found what?” Elisha’s eyes are wide.

“A little baby squirrel, barely the size of his hand. One of the smugglers was keeping it as a pet, but it wasn’t from around here, so they couldn’t just release it into the park.”

“Where was it from?”

“I’m not sure, actually. Somewhere out West, I think.”

“What happened when Fin found it?”

“Well, like I said, it was really small, so Fin just picked it up and tucked it in his coat pocket while we finished searching. When we were finished, he went to give it to animal control but the little thing wouldn’t let go of his finger.”

He squeezes Eli’s hand to demonstrate. “It was just hanging on like nothin’, and wouldn’t let go. Fin finally had to say he’d take it home at least for the night.” He laughs at the memory of seeing Fin watch an animal control officer demonstrate how to feed a squirrel using a baby bottle.

“And it still lives with him?”

“Oh yeah,” Sonny grins. “He says it’s just because having a pet gives his husband something to do, but Fin really likes that little thing.”

“Did he name the squirrel?”

“Yeah, he named it John.”

Eli wrinkles their nose. “That’s a person name.”

“Yup,” Sonny agrees. “It’s his husband’s name, actually.”

Eli laughs loudly. “That’s so funny!” They look up at Sonny and he is happy to see their face doesn’t hold quite so much anxiety in it. “Do you think maybe I could bring Cin-Cin to work one day and Fin could bring John?”

“I’ll ask him, squirt.” Sonny already knows it’ll be an easy sell. Little John is constantly winding up at work with Fin without Fin even intending it, because John and Fin have given it run of the apartment and it loves curling up in Fin’s coat pockets even now. 

The relaxed look on his nibling’s face crinkles up into worry again as they approach the animal clinic.

“You _promise_ he’s going to be okay?” Eli asks for the third or fourth time now, and Sonny sighs as he slides the carrier off their arm and opens the door, ushering Eli in before him.

“Be right with you!” A voice calls in response to the tinkling of the bell on the door.

The waiting room is empty but for a large ginger cat perched on a display of pet food, it’s thick tail waving imperiously. Sonny steers Eli away from it, not keen on having to juggle the injured rodent with a kid having an asthma attack.

“Listen, we’ll be with Cin-Cin while the doctor looks at him, and you can ask him any questions you have, but I _pinky promise_ that he is going to be okay.” Sonny kneels, holding his pinky out and Eli hooks theirs around it, and they shake solemnly.

“Hello down there,” a bemused voice says.

Sonny stands up quickly. “Hi, sorry. I called a bit ago about bringing in my sister’s chinchilla?”

“Name?”

“Sonny Carisi,” he holds his hand out.

The vet looks at his hand and then his face. “I meant the chinchilla.”

“Oh shi-shoot, right. Uh, Cin-Cin Sullivan.” Eli giggles, and Sonny shoots a mock glare at them. They stick their tongue out in response.

“Oh right, an injured paw you said on the phone? Come in to the exam room, let’s take a look.”

Sonny and Eli follow the vet into a small room, where Sonny sets the carrier down on the exam table. He sits in a folding chair, but Eli stays in front of the table, watching everything the doctor does carefully.

“You must be Cin-Cin’s big sibling,” the doctor says casually as he encourages the rodent out with a scattering of dandelion leaves. “I’m Dr. Barba, but you can call me Rafi.”

“I’m Eli,” they say shyly. They’re still figuring things out and Sonny’s sister and Tommy have been pretty great, but it makes his heart thump a bit harder with pride every time someone outside the family respects them.

“Can you tell me what happened, Eli?” Dr. Barba is holding the chinchilla against his torso with one arm and listening to his heartbeat with what looks like the world’s tiniest stethoscope. It might be the cutest thing Sonny's ever seen outside of a The Dodo video.

Eli explains what they know, about the wailing and finding Cin-Cin with his paw caught in the cage door. Dr. Barba listens and nods occasionally, prodding gently at Cin-Cin’s paws, moving them this way and that to test mobility.

“Well, the good news is, I don’t think his paw is broken.” The vet smiles broadly at Eli and then at Sonny. “I’m going to put a small splint on it and I’d recommend against letting him run around too much for about two weeks. I’ll also give you some medicine to put in his water, just a mild painkiller. He might be sleepier than you’re used to for a few days but after that he should be back to himself.”

Much to Sonny’s surprise, Eli bursts into tears. Dr. Barba doesn’t look too surprised though, and makes an aborted movement before restraining himself as Sonny leaps off the chair and kneels in front of his nibling.

“Hey, hey, kiddo, what’s going on? I told you he’d be okay, didn’t I?” He rocks Eli in his arms soothingly until the sobs fade into hiccups.

“Sometimes children find these visits overwhelming, especially the first time.” Dr. Barba whispers. “It’s one thing to know the pet will be okay, but the relief of having it confirmed can be a lot to process.”

Sonny nods and stands, picking Eli up as he goes. Their legs dangle for a moment and then wrap around his hips.

Dr. Barba looks at his arms full of an exhausted child and smirks. “I’ll just go wrap Cin-Cin’s paw and meet you out front, okay?”

“Yeah, thanks doc.”

“Like I said, you can call me Rafi.”

Sonny nods absently as the vet takes the chinchilla and his carrier into the back area of the clinic, and he carries Eli out into the waiting room, setting them on a chair next to him. It doesn’t take long for the vet to return with Cin-Cin back in his carrier. He’s also got a lollipop for Eli, which they take happily.

“What’s the damage?” Sonny asks, and hopes it’s not more than his credit limit.

Dr. Barba does a quick calculation and prints out a receipt. It’s not as bad as he’d expected, and he knows Tommy will insist on paying him back. There are also medication instructions at the bottom of the page, and Sonny folds it up carefully and tucks it into the pocket of the pet carrier so he doesn’t forget to give it to Bella.

“Thanks, doc. Rafi. We really appreciate it.” Sonny holds his hand out again and this time the vet shakes it warmly.

“It was my pleasure, Mr. Carisi.”

“Oh please, call me Sonny.”

“Okay, I will.” The vet smirks at him and Sonny blushes.

“Here, um, just in case,” he pulls out a business card and gives it to the vet. “If there’s uh. A problem with the payment or something. You can call me.”

Barba takes it, his eyebrow arched. “And if there’s no problem?”

Sonny’s tongue darts out, wetting his lips. “You can call me anyway.”

“I might just do that.”

Their eyes are locked and Sonny only breaks the gaze when he feels a small hand tugging on his.

“Sonny, let’s goooo.”

Barba laughs, and Sonny blushes harder.

“Yeah, okay, come on then.” He salutes Rafi, and Eli waves a goodbye as they leave the clinic with Cin-Cin.

“Dr. Barba was nice, hey?” Sonny is aiming for nonchalant and lands somewhere around probably not obvious enough for a nine-year-old, which is good enough.

“Uh-huh.” Eli says, unwrapping the lollipop. “I liked him.”

So did Sonny, and he finds himself hoping the man does call him soon. If he doesn’t, Sonny wonders if Fin would let him borrow Little John so he has another excuse to visit the clinic.

**Author's Note:**

> At some point, I'm hoping to bring Fin and Little John back in the SVZooniverse. He's an Abert's squirrel, specifically. Go ahead and look that up on Google Images, I'll wait.  
> ...  
> ...  
> IS THAT NOT A SQUIRREL WORTH NAMING AFTER JOHN MUNCH?


End file.
